Thursday, March 25, 2010

Someone sent us this blog post written by a man in Israel. Since his point of view regarding Britain’s latest move against Israel is similar to mine, I’m reposting what he has to say.

We haven’t publicly talked about the death of Hamas terrorist Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. There has been much discussion about it in the media, but so far more heat than light has been generated and crucial questions have yet to be answered. Such a strange situation, and so many odd occurrences.

I look forward to the book someone is no doubt writing about it. Nonetheless, this is a story certain to bring paranoia bounding out into the daylight, gnashing its teeth and looking for something to gnaw.

The blogger, Barry Shaw, whose post I am using to build my own comments ‘round, lives in Israel. He calls his blog simply The View from Israel. Israeli Advocacy in a Difficult World. In his profile Mr. Shaw explains his reason for blogging:

Usually public opinion is formed from newspapers or TV reporting. My opinion was formed from living in Israel, witnessing the horror of terror, reading the misinformation and downright lies perpetrated by the Western media, seen the incompetence of Israeli leaders to project the facts. This blog comes from a particularly personal perspective. The articles may be controversial and provocative. I hope so. They are intended to make you think. They are intended to revise your opinion of the driving forces not only in the Middle East but also where you live. For whatever strikes Israel today will surely visit you tomorrow…

This story is a particularly explosive topic. Anything about Israel or coming out of that country turns contentious very quickly. No doubt people have strong feelings one way or another about this incident. However, I would remind commenters that just because the subject is Israel doesn’t mean the usual rules don’t apply - i.e., courtesy, civility, and reasonable discourse. The comment thread is to be limited to the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh and its aftermath, including this latest move by Britain.

Theories are fine, as long as they are civil, reasonable, adult conclusions, not global accusations we've all heard before. None of us knows enough about this situation to be able to declare with finality what “really” happened or why. However, that doesn’t keep us from making a best guess and you’re welcome to give us your opinion. Reasonably. Politely… You know the drill by now.

Wednesday, 24 March 2010

Britain Shoots Itself in The Foot

The recent public revelation from Britain’s Foreign Secretary, David Milliband, that the British Government has expelled a leading Israeli diplomat over the copying of British passports is worrying on a number of levels.

It has not been proven that Israel is responsible for the execution of a Hamas terrorist in Dubai. There are lawyers [sic] of uncertainty over the death of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.

Normally, I’d correct an obvious typo in an essay, but this one is too delicious to fix. The image of lawyers stacked up like cordwood, ready to make money off the situation is beyond Freudian. But he’s right…there are indeed layers of uncertainty here. But also to be sure, the lawyers are slavering off stage.

The most compelling fact was that the door to his hotel room was locked and bolted from the inside. Hardly a scenario of a planned hit job by any intelligence agency.

No proof, video or forensic, points to any individual or organisation responsible for removing a Hamas killer from the international covert world of terror and espionage.

The hotel door is a real puzzle.- - - - - - - - -If I remember correctly, it took a while for that piece of information to be revealed. And I agree with him that the videos are not proof. The videos supplied so far have a Keystone Kops amateur hour quality to them. A normal paranoid (say, me) wonders if the Israelis have a macabre sense of humor, what with the wigs and glasses and caps and quick changes in the bathrooms, or if they - or some other ‘entity’ - deliberately made this into an overkill situation. So to speak. At any rate, the videos are bizarre…when they’re not aimless. Definitely, layer upon lawyer of uncertainty.

There was supposed to be close coordination between Israel and Britain in security and intelligence information sharing. Britain has been the beneficiary of vital classified information provided by Israel that has led to the prevention of a number of terror attacks in Britain.

We know how grateful and gracious Britain is to Israel. About the same level of courtesy that our American president shows to Britain. But it makes you wonder: why did they take so long to expel someone? And is there anything Israel could’ve done to prevent this action by Britain? I don’t think so.

Now, in a rare public display, Britain has expelled Israel’s leading intelligence official in the U.K. from the Israeli Embassy at the Court of St. James.

It’s not only rare, it’s quite tardy. What is the reason for this timing? You know it’s not arbitrary. You know they weren’t asleep and suddenly awakened to say, “Harrumph. Bad play. Out you go.” Lots of whys and whats remain to be answered here, including timing.

This act of ‘political correctness’ is foolhardy and dangerous, not for Israel but for Britain. Anyone with any knowledge of the workings at the Israeli Embassy know that it is short-staffed and under-resourced. His removal will reduce the effectiveness of Israel’s cooperation with the British authorities over terror threats that include information sharing.

I wonder if this is at all connected to the White House’s display of rudeness toward Netanyahu during his visit here? No photo ops, no diplomatic protocol. The American Congress greeted Netanyahu warmly and reiterated their support for Israel. That support is not shared by this administration as has been amply demonstrated by Obama, SecState Clinton, and Joe Biden.

At any rate, I wonder if Britain’s timing is connected to Netanyahu’s American visit?

[…]

Britain has been protected by the intelligence provided by Israel. Now, due to political considerations and their recent decision, Britain has slapped Israel in the face. More importantly, it has deprived itself of a significant link in the intelligence and security chain that keeps British citizens safe. It will pay the painful consequence of this action.

This was a political decision, not an intelligence or security one.

I disagree. Political maneuverings, intelligence and security are all intertwined. They always have been. The pols posture while the intelligence and security folks fight over territorial prerogatives. Sometimes it’s amazing that things don’t turn out worse than they do. In this case, there could well be a distinct disconnect between what British intelligence wants (and knows) and what the politicians are saying publicly. We won’t know until the main players write their memoirs.

Millibrand is a shrewd politician. Clobbering Israel will win him valuable brownie points as he makes a run for the leadership of the Labour Party after Gordon Brown’s anticipated loss in the upcoming British General Election.

He knows the colour of his constituents. His announcement in the House of Commons against Israel will play to the Left wing of his party and to the Muslim population who will now see him as yet another dhimmi Jew serving their cause.

Meanwhile, there has been nothing proved in the Dubai claim regarding Mossad. It is a situation in which no response can be made and none would be accepted. Or rather, what Dubai wants Israel to claim would be suicide for Israel.

As I’ve said before, Israel is the West’s canary in the coal mine. We would be best served if the canary is protected from the poison gas emanating from her enemies. Why? Because Israel is the only canary. We can't go to the small state store and buy another one. So if the only democracy in the Middle East were to fail, the rest of the actors in that region would immediately begin killing one another. They know that and they know that Israel knows that and they know we know they know, etc.

Unfortunately, there are sufficient numbers of crazies among the Arab states (and Iran) that enlightened self-interest may not be enough to stay the hands of all of them.

Meanwhile, the fuzzy beards and baseball caps and quick changes on those videos are some strange stuff. It’s as though someone in the Middle East was playing Mossad as they thought Mossad might carry out an assassination. That’s one idea I’ve seen floated, though I find it a leaky boat. Entertaining, though.

Mossad can’t be that stupid - or that wasteful of human intel to use eleven operatives to go after one man. As a matter of fact, he wasn’t even high on their hit list so why would they destroy eleven agents to go after an ostensibly low-value target?

Mr Shaw has some suggestions about this operation and the value of its target here. He talks about a computer disc in Britain that went missing last year. Never found. He asks if the Arabs had it and if Dubai used it…see what you think.

As I said, we won’t know the reality for a long time. All we can do is judge and guess.

Judge away, dear reader, but if you do it via the comment thread, stay reasonable.

20
comments:

my feeling is that it was not Israeli's that killed the Hamas terrorist. ..I believe the DU BYE police or intelligence people stagged this after killing him themselves.

why ..?? because I don't think the DU BYE (good bye ...what ever) intelligence people would put so much information out in the public domain. They are not asking for public help (no reward posted) ..they are trying to point the blame at Israel for something they did.

My view right from the start is that this assassination had all the hallmarks of a Brian Rix farce. And I give Mossad the credit of employing better script writers. So that immediately puts me amongst the "conspiracy theorists". Who else would want to see him dead? Suggestions about double dealing within some of his arms trades? Who is ever to know?

Now it is being played as a propaganda piece to rally the West behind the Arab/Islamic cause. And judging by the reaction of my government, the Arabs are succeeding. Oh dear.

Do remember that the prophecy relating to the battle that is yet to come in the Valley of Megiddo (Armageddon), show that Israel will be alone against all the other nations of the world when God steps in to save them. This action of the British government elite shows how that line up of forces is being achieved. Those who are offended by this action of the British government should also remember that it does not speak for all the people. Only about a third of the enfranchised population voted for them, but gerrymandering is a topic for a wholly different blog!

Mahmoud Abdel Rauf al-Mabhouh was found dead on January 19, 2010. At the time of his death, Mabhouh was WANTED by the Israeli, Egyptian and Jordanian governments. (link)

The Jan. 25th British Council statement (third link) was included because the loss took place the month prior to the Mahmoud incident in Dubai :"The council — the Foreign Office’s cultural arm — admitted that the disk, which held the names, National Insurance numbers, salary and bank account details of staff on its UK payroll, went missing while in transit last month. "

As I said on the other thread, our rules about comments require that they be civil, temperate, on-topic, and show decorum. Your comment violated the last of these rules. We exclude foul language, explicit descriptions, and epithets. This is why I deleted your comment.

Use of asterisks is an appropriate alternative.

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Gary Rumain said...

That waiter in Norway was still [a devotee of Allah]. Better offing him than waiting for him to turn jihadi.

It hasn't been proven that Israel was behind the assassination. Well, neither have the theory of evolution and the big bang theory. Mossad is of course no stranger to sloppiness as the Jordan hit of 1999(?) shows.

Any thoughts as to the timing of this act by Britain. They're aren't clumsy or stupid (which can't be said for all of the others giving the Israelis a hard time) so why this, why now? I know the person kicked out was Israeli intelligence, but I also know that Britain depends on them to keep abreast of terrorist activities.

Oh, btw, i tend to agree with Luke & Yokel & no one. Their theory does not say Mossad doesn't make mistakes of identity -- e.g., the Norwegian waiter. However, a case of mistaken identity is in a different category from the "evidence" that Dubai has presented.

And the huffing and puffing, but not much else until this action by the British, lead me to wonder if the huff-puff is merely for show.

No pathologist ever came forward with a certified cause of death. No pictures of the body, which should be standard operating procedure in such cases. So we're just supposed to take the word of Dubai for what happened?

I've read some theories that it was Hamas the PA who did it, i.e., the take-out was internecine.

I wonder if Americans would be so willing to give Israel the benefit of the doubt if their passports had been compromised.That will never happen of course--don't bite the hand that feeds you. Talk about double standards.

Who else but Israelis? Only they have the hubris,they probably expected the usual flogging with a feather.

they are certainly not clumsy or stupid, I personally think that under normal circumstances they would have let it quietly die. But in a couple of months there is an election and it is estimated that our cultural enrichers will be a deciding factor in at least 100 constituencies. In a first past the post system every vote counts not the same as here in Holland where percentages dominate minorities do not have so much influence.

(2)The other thing is that London is one of the two largest financial centres in the world. What the Arabs have left after there whoring gets deposited there or in New York. The amount the Arabs have in the Sovereign funds they have deposited there, if withdrawn would cause the British economy to collapse, and I mean collapse.

(3)We are no longer energy independent. Attila the Hen closed down our coal industry, so we now have to import coal from Australia and off load it in Immingham underneath which sits 18 seams of coal no more than 500 meters underground.

(4) That gift from the gods North sea oil and gas has been fritted away on giving goodies out too people and letting the international oil companies exploit it for there own benefit. We have used our energy capital as income. Harold Macmillan warned the country about selling off the family silver in the 50s.

(5)They lack moral and ethical values which is essential if corruption is not to grow. Let me give you a good example. Winston Churchill did not earn his bread by being a politician, he earned it by writing books and articles. During the period 1940-45 he was somewhat distracted, when he was voted out of power he lost his income as Prime Minister and there was little fat. He was explaining to one of his Tory friends that he might have to sell his house Chartwell to survive until he could finish his book over the Second War. His friend went back and talked to some of his other rich friends, they came back with an offer that they would buy the house for 50,000 pounds that he could live in the house for a nominal rent and that it would be given too the nation when he and his wife died. Churchill is reported to have said for that type of money he would throw in the corpse. Tony Blair is reputedly to have 15,000,000 pounds in his property portfolio. That for me says it all.

The porridge wog in charge now is even worse. We spent millions getting a conviction for the Lockebie plane bombers. Two of the victims are buried in the village churchyard, they were flying to America on there Honeymoon when the bomb went off. Our Gordie let one out on so called compassionate grounds and then flew too Libya most likely on the off chance that he could get a contract for B.P. and with it a nice back hander. He doesn't have to worry of cause because he will be invited on the Middle Eastern lecture circuit at a million pounds a shot, its how you pay your bribes now, ask Clinton. The expenses scandal and the freshly breaking lobbying scandal shows to me how our leaders have lost there moral and ethical compass. Not only Churchill but the decent patriotic socialist that ran the Government after the second world war must be turning in there graves, at this betrayal. Michael Foot the last in the line of these died last week. The sight of these parasites eulogising at his funeral made me sick.

Unfortunately we will not be able to hang these bastards for the treason laws were revokes by royal degree in I think 1997, by guess who, the one and only Teflon Tony.

I also suspect that things will not change much behind the scenes it is in both our countries best interest to swap information. What bothers me the most is that America has diverted the bunker buster bombs that Israel ordered too Diego Garcia. in the Indian ocean a British owned island where there is an American base. The Yids are on short rations, curtsy of Obama. I have pencilled out a date between the end of 2011 and 2014 when the balloon goes up. We live in interesting times. I will not give my reasons why.

This has nothing to do with the answers to the question from Dymphna, which I have tried to answer.

What I now pose, is sort of tongue in cheek is is the despicable treatment of an American citizen, by an American president. Winston Churchill's mother Jenny Jerome was American, very dark haired by the way. I suspect that this was because her Grandmother was a Native American Mehitabel Beach an Irokees Indian. Churchill had Indian blood in his veins. Churchill had always shown affection for America, when asked to address congress during the war he began his speech with, “ if my father had been American, and my mother had been English instead of the other way round I can assure you that this would not have been the first time you would have heard me speak here”.

President Kennedy in fact gave him Honorary American citizenship. Now I don't know about you but Honorary seems a mealy mouthed word. You are either an American citizen or you are not. To give a man honorary citizenship is in fact to give him citizenship otherwise why the hell do you do it. I therefore ask the question what the f**k is going on when a President of the U.S.A. has the audacity, nee temerity to pack up the bronze bust of a great American citizen and dispatch it post haste too the embassy of a foreign country. Not only that but the bust of an American who came from an oppressed minority.

I have positive intel that the guy locked and bolted his hotel room doorfrom the inside and then killed himself by biting into his pillow. All to make look Israel bad in the eyes of the world. Fiendish mahoundians! ;-)

Harold Macmillan, was that speech - "selling off the family silver" not aimed at Thatcher in the 1980's not 1950. In both his maiden speech in the House of Lords,1984 and to the Tory Reform Group, 1985.

And this gem -

"It breaks my heart to see (I can't interfere or do anything at my age) what is happening in our country today - this terrible strike of the best men in the world, who beat the Kaiser's army and beat Hitler's army, and never gave in. Pointless, endless. We can't afford that kind of thing. And then this growing division which the noble Lord who has just spoken mentioned, of a comparatively prosperous south, and an ailing north and midlands. That can't go on".